Hope
by Crossed from another world
Summary: Haise Sasaki and Akira Mado partner up to unlock the mysteries behind the Aogiri such as why were they created, where is the original owl located and why are their numbers growing at a substantial rate? The war between CCG and Aogiri has only begun. Can Haise and Akira stop a war of bloodshed before it's too late?


Chapter 1

It is dark, so dark that the outlines of the room remained motionless and unknown. If there was a thing he could identify with, it would be the bed beneath him. The awkward softness of a false security it was. How long has it been? It felt like he crawled inside a womb, eagerly awaiting for it's entrance of a new world. What led to this? What is his name? What did he do to deserve the purgatory that was his world? He did not know. The sound of footsteps approaching from somewhere outside of his little world appears and his head snaps towards the direction. It didn't take long for the door to his room to open and a man with white hair steps in. The aura of this man felt dangerous.

His facial features are not clear because of the little light from outside. It was dim, taking a better look, the sun was long gone. However, the white hair illuminated the dark room, no, that is wrong. It did not illuminate the room at all. It showed a deeper darkness then the darkness of purgatory. But besides that. The young man never felt more at home with the stranger.

The unknown figure stared at the young man and the young man gazed back. There is a connection between them, a bond created by nightmares. There was also a constant connection of information. It felt like this mysterious individual was his creator and that is the reason why he felt so secure with him. The feeling of being accepted as the mans creation created a warmth that could not be explained. His head felt fuzzy, as if remembering information that he had no memory of.

"I am Arima Kishou, your master, everything I say or do must be followed accordingly. If you fail to live up to my expectations, the punishment can and will be accountable towards death." Arima spoke with a firm attitude, unlike the man has ever seen before. He moved his hand casually to a switch beside the door and flipped it. The room was shined by a white light from the top of the roof, showering it's image and revealing how the young mans purgatory looked like. There is no color in this room. It is a large banquet of whiteness without any sense of personality. The floor is white, the desk at the side of the room is white and the bed shared the same color as the two.

Arima waited for the young man to answer and the young man complied without a single though, "Of course!" the young man stated, getting off his bed and immediately kneeling before Arima. Arima walked towards him in a slow manner, holding his quinque closely at his side. His quinque came in a for silver suitcase. He kneeled in front of the young man and observed his every move. The young man had his head bowed so low, you could see the spinal cord bone peeking from the back of his neck. If Arima really wanted to. He could forcefully snatch at the bone and end the life of the creation before him. However, he decides otherwise.

Arima closed his eyes and stood up, "You may stand." He ordered and like a machine, the young man obeyed. He stood upright, facing Arima with no emotion. He did find out they shared the same hair through a reflection from the window behind Arima. Where are they? In a building? He wondered. Arima looked at him suspiciously, checking for any signs of something and then sighed when failed to find any, "I'm going to ask you a few questions, I expect them to be answered truthfully and quickly, understood?"

There is no hesitation from the young man, "Of course."

Arima cleared his throat and asked, "Who are you?" The young man didn't know but he felt like he could answer it. The answer was deep in the hallow depths within him, if he could just pull it out…

Arima didn't wait. After the extra second the young man took to answer the question, immediately, a hand strikes the young man in the face. It was quick and unexpected that it caught him off guard. The impact was massive enough to lose balance but before his body could even feel the reassurance from the ground. Arima responds with a swift under kick to his ribs. The kick caused the young man to twirl violently in the air in an unnatural way.

It became difficult to breath as blood sputtered from the young mans mouth, but no matter how hurt he was he desperately tried to stand up. Arima looks at the young man without a single expression, if there was one, it could have been pity. He took off his glove, covered in blood, and disposed of it. He then takes out another fresh glove from his pocket, after putting it on, his eyes closes in on the young man, "You were 0.1 seconds late from answering my question _after_ given the right amount of time. It's disappointing. I expected immediate answers from you and if you fail to achieve even the most simplest of tasks there is no reason for you to live. Do you understand?"

The young man forces himself to stand but when the question was prompt, he devoted all his energy at committing for an answer, "Yes!" he yelled, only to fall back down because of his poor use of energy. Arima waited for him to get situated and it didn't take long. The young man assumed his position before and looked determined. Arima took notice and continued, "Who are you?"

"No idea." The young man answered truthfully.

"Where are you from?"

"No clue."

"Where are you at?"

"I don't know."

The questions shot back and forth however the answer remained the same. The young man had zero knowledge of his past. After the questioning, Arima walked towards the door and opened it wide. He looked at the outside world for a while and the young man caught view of it. It was snowing. The white crystals falling softly on the floor, joining with others to create a glorious snowy floor. Arima looked outside and questioned if what he was about to do, was the right thing, "Sasaki Haise," the young man hears his name and his attention perks, "Should I release you to the outside world?"

Sasaki took Arima seriously and understood the punishment if he failed to live up to Arima's expectation, for only death will await him beyond that. That is not what he wanted. He wants a normal life, a life where he can do good. For some odd reason, he felt like he was the bad guy. At least to a point, he felt like everything he done thus far, whether he remembers it or not, was wrong. How did he end up here? Why does he feel like he accomplished nothing but bad? He didn't know. What he knows is that in front of him is an opportunity. He can sit back and let life run him down or he can take control.

The past is the past. The future is now.

The leaves fall gently on the ground in this quiet, gloomy morning. Everyone is at home, sleeping, getting ready for a party or just hanging about surfing the web. Everyone but her. Akira stood alone in the dreadful cemetery. The only thing that compared her to others is the reason she's here. Today is a holiday for everyone, three day off for even the CCG, most of the CCG anyways and she's using this small break she has to spend time with her family, friends, just like others. However, her family and friends live in a cemetery now…

Her mom, taken away from her father when she was just a year old. It consumed her father, turned him into a monster and inserted hatred unto him. Her father was always like that, but with her mother in the picture. It was like having restraints to a beast. When her mother died, the chains were released and the man accomplished so many things in a short period of time. The man was lonely though, he was blinded by revenge he never really took notice to his daughter. He still considered her the only person he had in this world but that was it.

His long and illustrious career inspired many including Koutarou Amon, an investigator she had the privilege partnering with. He was brave, strong, level minded, everything you wanted from a CCG operative and everything you wanted from a husband. She'll be lying if she didn't consider him as a candidate. And wondered constantly if he considered her as one. She loved him. She wanted him. There was something about him that she couldn't stand. It was his lack of logical safety. He didn't care about it and that's why he's six feet under.

He was logical, but less logical then her rival, Takizawa Seidou. The man wouldn't jump over a pit if he knew he had ten percent chance to live. Even if it was for his life. He was scared, frightened, but damn was he smart. He stepped up when it mattered, despite how much his mind told him not to. He was never calm when doing it, so unlike Amon, he stood low chances of living through anything if he didn't play by his rules. No matter how scared or a wuss he was, he was braver than her times ten. He looked danger in the eye and whether he pissed himself doing it, he didn't look away. That trait is admirable anywhere.

She wished it was different. She wished she was bringing Takizawa and Amon over to her mom and dad's house for dinner. Instead, she's bring flowers to their graves. Takizawa's mom just came by. She refused to talk to anyone associated with the CCG. They took away her son, who could blame her? She did give a slight nod to Akira that morning, so at least she's communicating that way. Takizawa was a mom's boy. Ever since they were small. She only did see Amon once or twice during academy and boy was he popular with the girls.

If only they knew how shy and timid he actually is. Everyone drew a tough guy image of him that when she first met him, she was hard on him, she thought he would try to force his rules on her when their partnership was allowed but he never did that. He only adapted towards her rules and stubborn attitude. Maybe that's what attracted her to him so much? She looked ahead at the other gravestones, fresh to withering flowers placed upon them. Everyone lost somebody but she's left with no one now. She can be with them right here, right now, but in her heart, she truly knew their gone.

It was an empty feeling. Her heart ached but she didn't cry. She closed her eyes, took a long sigh and left. As she started to walk, a black sedan makes its way to the entrance and it's custom to stand aside when a new family comes to mourn so she does exactly that. She even bows her head in respect. There was two people who stepped out. She could tell just from hearing it. The sound of their footsteps crushing the bits of rocks construction workers used as stylish floors ended when they stepped in front of her.

The man who came first turned and looked at Akira for a whole, "Are you okay?" he asked, no tone in his voice. It was blank. Akira glances up to see Arima there, looking at her with nothing on his face. Akira's posture switched from lax to alert in almost a second. Arima wasn't impressed, "As you know, your partner is dead…Amon, isn't it? Well no matter, I've personally brought you a new one."

"A new one sir?" the way he described Amon got to her skin but she held strong, not showing a sign. Arima brows curved, "Are you slow? Yes, a new one." He turned his eyes behind him and Akira followed along to see a young man with mixed colored hair of white and black. He looked particularly alerted as well and she already considered him as Arima's lackey. Akira closed her eyes and nodded, "Yes sir." She said, until adding on, "Please excuse me but I don't think this man would even be an inch of Amon's skills. By the looks of it, I think he's fresh meat."

"I can hear that-" Sasaki tried to say until a back-hand hits him across the face. Arima looked at Sasaki with dull eyes, "Speak only when I tell you to…" he said, taking off his gloves to replace new ones. He then turned his attention to Akira, "I'm sorry for my rudeness about Amon, he was an excellent operative. I just have things on my mind that requires more thought." Akira freaked out a little when Arima struck Sasaki but said nothing of it, "No, I'm sorry for thinking out lou-"

"Akira…you have no need to fear. This man is not like Amon, he's better." Arima spoke as Sasaki recovered from the hit. He glared at the ground, disappointed in himself, "Be good to Akira, Sasaki, if I hear any problems consider your life exterminated, understood?" Sasaki nodded, "Follow all her instructions but you can consider yourself the same rank as her. Don't hold back in arguing, however, her word is final, understood?" "Yes sir" Sasaki said, determined again. Arima didn't wait for Akira's opinion. He left back to the sedan but before doing so, he leaves words for Akira to ponder on.

"You're expected to surpass me Sasaki and I believe you can…just don't die before you do."

The black sedan disappears from sight and Sasaki is now standing in front of Akira. His body was like a statue, frozen in time. She tried moving a little to the side and Sasaki followed without a word. Her eyes widened, "Are you a robot?" she asked, he had superior reaction timing when she tried dashing forward and he did the same. She tried walking too and Sasaki followed her movements on point. "I'm whatever you want me to be." He told her. Akira smiled, it's been a long time since she's smiled, "This is interesting but I think it's better if you just be yourself. I'm tired of people being so uptight around me."

It reminded her of Amon, if only he could just show his true feelings then maybe there was a chance for love. Amon always acted like that, like he was by himself, that he had to face everything by himself. If he could just open up and ask for help when he needed it, he could still be alive. Akira sighed.

Sasaki's posture relaxed a little as a smile was grew on his face, "Thank you." He sighed, "I was hoping not everyone from CCG was like him." He then remembered about Arima's rule to speak only when spoken to and his face grew pale in horror. Akira shook her head, "Don't worry about it…" she grabbed his hand, "…just be yourself around me. You don't have to follow Arima's rules."

"I can't do that." Sasaki revealed. Arima was the one who brought him from his purgatory. He's the one who gave him reason to live. He's his savior. Sasaki remained emotionless and Akira wondered why she cared so much about it anyways. She preferred people to act silent and awkward around her but with Sasaki it felt natural, like she knew him for years. Maybe it's because everyone she cared for is dead and now her heart wants to accept new people. But is it ready? Wanting something and being ready for something is two different things. There was a small pause from the both of them as they gazed into each other's eyes.

Akira decided to just go with it, her life would be over and done with if she over thought everything she does, "Come on, I know a place where you can loosen up." Sasaki looked nervous when Akira dragged him along, but followed suit in the name of Arima.

Thank you for reading.


End file.
